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Tylers Lock
Historical information only, premises sold and business unfortunately ceased.
Waterside relaxation for your guests.
Tel for personalised service,
no answer phones, no emails,
just real, friendly people.
Now hired out exclusively for Functions, Christenings
and special occasions, the central building at Tylers Lock is
actually an old converted pump house steeped in history
still towering over the tranquil surrounding countryside,
a testament to the building skills of a since bygone age,
and local landmark and meeting place.
Next to a beautifully restored canal, Tylers Lock used to provide
all the water for the longest and highest flight of locks in Europe,
all the way to Stourport, via its pump house, in all its cast iron and brick
built glory. Now I believe the local Upper Bittell Resevoir acts primarily
as the supplier, more well known for fishing and boating, yet of great
importance to the canal systems of Birmingham.
Food for your pet heron.
The pond over what was once the path
of an underground channel at Tylers Lock.
The incredibly little changed view inside the Tylers Lock Function Bar and the
Tylers Lock Waterside restaurant as they are now, thankfully the original flavour
of the building remains essentially barely altered, the deep reddish
mahogany like glow suffuses the whole still tranquil ambiance
as if your gnarled bargeman could very well appear up the Tylers stairs from the
canal and order his pint, as was surely the case all those years ago.
It is hard to imagine the Worcestershire locals passing up the chance
to ply visitors with cider, and would surely have been a pleasant
part of what must have been intimidating days. Canals were hard
work, even now the passing trade is more than glad of a break,
here at Tylers, and they are doing it for fun, not loading and unloading.
I dare say a good deal of things changed hands at oh such a convenient
point on the route, so close to the A38 as is now, but then also
an arterial route through to an industrial heartland. Under the
wooden floor of the surprisingly spacious and airy Tylers Lock entrance
is a sixty foot deep well, and sloping inspection pit.
The current owners Andy plus Caren, have struggled through
a lot of seemingly insurmountable obstacles to make Tylers Lock
viable, and save Tylers from final decay and ruin, they are at present
researching the exact paths the old Tylers channels took, and the site of the
original Tylers chimney stack in the adjacent field, to which and from which
were also water channels. The Tylers Lock well would make a nice feature in
itself with this new eatery, as is obvious, but the primary reason for the purchase
and the ongoing research is to try and find out so much as is possible for
people to retain, and pass on to their succeeding generations,
lest it be lost along with so much of our cultural heritage, for all time.
Below is another account we have unearthed and adapted to add substance to
what has been described thus far. If it is financially possible then
Tylers well will be reopened one day, and perhaps even pumped again.
Who knows, a mini beam engine might well be in order, and fitting
tribute to the genius of JAMES WATT, who more than anyone made
this a viable venture. We love the place in itself, so peaceful,
but it is not hard to envisage what was here once, and difficult
but to marvel at the sheer grandiose ambition of those who built
this, bearing in mind we are talking picks and shovels, engineering
brick by engineering brick, not JCBs, steel and concrete.
Nothing seemed beyond these people, be it railways, Empire,
sewage systems, and grand old buildings, but I think the canals
are somehow ingrained within the psyche of ordinary people, who
can relate to these buildings and these towpaths even now.
There is something almost immortal in their structure,
and they show that with sufficient effort and sheer
determination, nearly anything is possible with minimal tools.
Sweat still stains the towpaths, blood and tears the walls.
More History,
via the internet, various sources.
At the dawn of the 19th Century, the British Empire was
leading the Industrial revolution as progress swept
across the globe in an era of fantastic leaps of understanding
and achievement, as inspiring then as now. One of the
most ambitious projects of the time was the construction
of the Worcester to Birmingham canal, begun
in 1805 it was neither the first nor the last of the
many narrow canals to grace the countryside,
but did comprise a flight of locks still counted the longest
and the highest in Europe, replete with an experimental
top lock destined to be the deepest of its type in the country.
To provide water for this monumental flight of locks, a
pump house was commissioned to stand between the
Resevoir and the top pound it was to supply, by utilising
James Watts still recent improvement on the Beam Engine.
This pump house operated unstopped for over one hundred
and thirty years until the canal system itself fell into disuse
and was consigned, along with the canal it served, to neglect
and the footnotes of history by the progress it defined,
a rusting cast iron monument to greatness.
During the years in which it was operable, the pump house lifted
the water over sixty feet from a well located now under
the wooden flooring of the Function bar, in the same
room the two cast iron columns reaching up to the mezzanine
floor still display the cross member to which the fulcrum
was affixed. The piston unit itself stood at the far end of the
Function Bar before the window overlooking the distant
Malvern Hills, mounted in what now is the beer cellar almost
thirty feet below it had a span of nearly ten feet and the pipes
feeding and draining it varied from six to fourteen inches across.
The walls surrounding this section of the building give an
intimation of the force of the movement undergone by this
piston, almost three feet thick, they were built to withstand the
massive vibration and shifting of the pump unit whilst in operation.
Around the walls at the far end of the Function Bar the cast iron
staircase rises up onto what was originally the operation and,
to the smaller extent, maintenance platform, now comprising
part of the mezzanine floor, before continuing up to the
level of the fulcrum itself to enable necessary maintenance to
be carried out periodically.
The main door to Tylers Lock now stands where the water
flowed out on the beginning of a near half mile journey to reach the
top lock along the now vanished leat rather than into the pound
adjacent to the building. A stop lock was fitted in Birminghams
Gas Street Basin to prevent the rest of the system being drained
down the Tardebigge Flight and so the engine had to provide
all the water from Birmingham to Tardebigge in addition to
the flight below.
The Main Bar and the Waterside Restaurant below were originally
one large room comprising main boiler and coal bunker. In
the Main Bar can still be seen the cast iron tresses and ties installed
to support the weight of the expanse of roof which covered this section.
In 1937 the Worcester to Birmingham canal fell into disuse and disrepair
due in the main to the advent of the commercially more viable
road transport system. The canals, which had been the vital artery
to many communities were allowed to silt and decay, sad
end to a proud tradition.
In the last thirty years, the canal heritage has been re discovered.
Once more proud alongside the vibrant canal, Tylers Lock has
been sympathetically and painstakingly, lovingly converted
into a unique four level functions establishment with Restaurant and bars.
Landscaped gardens and ponds lead the eye along the canal
as the flight begins its descent into the undulating Worcestershire
countryside, beautiful and tranquil, especially at twilight.
The perfect backdrop to the renowned hospitality
which has always been the hallmark of Tylers Lock,
and continued to this day in the present superb food.
I guess once a beam engine, always the beam engine.
There can have been few places to rival this in its heyday,
apparently in the middle of the field adjacent this tall chimney
once stood proud, presiding over two channels up and down.
The well and its inspection chamber still exist untouched much
by the hands of time, under the boards, but
until a philanthropist, or the lottery, restore this to
its rightful place in history, it must remain hidden from view
if not from true English hearts and souls.
My friends curiously came to own this place recently,
and we have many fond memories of it as the Engine House,
yet another truly top class notch on its roll of fame.
Now it is a renowned function destination par excellence.
Current Tylers Lock wall plaque, detailing
The more recent history and filling in a few gaps.
Canal side view of Waterside Restaurant.
There is often a heron to be seen through
the windows, and one only has to bring
bread to become a King for the Day,
as the local birds and fish are all too
well acquainted with many forms of
persuasion whenever bread is
concerned
Phone or fax the number below for more information
as Andy plus Caren are keen to hear from anyone
interested about Tylers Lock, or as formerly known the
Engine House.
Any further information would be very gratefully received.
Or email me with any pictures and or information you may have
using the email link to my website below.
Malcolm Pugh May 2003
stiffsteiffs@blueyonder.co.uk
testimonials photos views functions The Arrival
Waterside Bliss.
Tel for personalised service,
no answer phones, no emails,
just real, friendly people.
Please let us know you first met us via the internet.
This will further enhance our service.
Thank you for all your time and trouble.
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